Researchers recognize adaptive teaching as a component of effective instruction. Educators adjust their teaching according to the social, linguistic, cultural, and instructional needs of their students. While there is consensus that effective teachers are adaptive, there is no consensus on the language to describe this phenomenon. Diverse terminology surrounding the same phenomenon impedes effective communication and comprehensive understanding of this important aspect of classroom instruction. Moreover, researchers have studied this phenomenon using a variety of methods, in various disciplines, with different results. Therefore, our research team completed a comprehensive literature review of the empirical research studying adaptability across academic disciplines. In this article, we describe how adaptive teaching is defined and conceptualized in the education research literature from 1975 to 2014, the methods used to study instructional adaptations, and the results of these studies.

Researchers frequently suggest that effective teachers adapt their teaching to navigate the complexity of classroom literacy instruction. However, little research has examined how teachers adapt their instruction, teachers' reflections on their adaptations, or the instructional conditions in which they adapt. To address this gap in the research literature, the study reported here used instrumental case studies to examine two third grade teachers' literacy instruction. Specifically, this study explored teachers' adaptations, their reflections on adapting, and the openness of the tasks they implemented. Observations and interviews illustrated the metacognition teachers use to adapt their instruction within the complexity of classroom instruction. Moreover, findings revealed that teachers adapted with greater frequency when using open tasks.

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Teachers would prefer a classroom of students who are engaged-actively and thoughtfully participating in literacy instruction. But what is itabout instructional tasks that make them engaging or disengaging?

Differentiation shouldn't end with planning but should continue as teachers adapt their instruction during lessons.